Shattered Pieces
by elisteran
Summary: Nabiki has been involved in many deals for cash before, at Ranma's expense. What happens when a deal goes too far, out of control?
1. Chapter 1

Shattered Pieces  
  
Disclaimer: The characters and back-story of Ranma 1/2 are the creation  
of Rumiko Takahashi. This story is inspired by 'Picking up the  
Pieces' by Masaki Yang Yi.  
- Chapter 1 -  
  
"Ranma, you pervert!" The sound of a bucket impacting a skull rang  
throughout the house. The next thing Nabiki, sitting outside in a lawn  
chair to enjoy the early afternoon rays, saw was a pig-tailed martial  
artist flying through the doors in a smooth arc to land in the koi  
pond.  
  
"Excellent," she smirked to herself. Standing up, she walked over to  
the pond and dragged the unconscious, now-female, figure out. "My  
little sis sure got you that time, Ranma. Really, you should have  
learned by now about walking in on people using the bathroom." Even as  
she tsked, she thought to herself, 'Of course, it would have been  
easier for him if I hadn't removed the 'occupied' sign from the  
door....'  
  
Picking up the satchel she had prepared earlier and placed by her chair,  
she resumed dragging Ranma, taking him out of the yard and down the  
street. It was early enough on a Sunday that there were no on-lookers  
to stare at the sight of one girl dragging another. As she reached an  
alley perhaps a block from the dojo, a dimunitive ninja stepped from  
the shadows, calling her name.  
  
Nabiki unceremoniously dumped Ranma's head onto the ground. "What took  
you so long, Sasuke?" she asked.  
  
"Master Kuno wished me to avoid the dojo. He is worried that the  
sorcerer Saotome would somehow discover of the impending date with his  
'tree-borne kettle girl', and invoke his vile magics to interfere."  
Removing a wallet from the folded cloth of his uniform, the servitor  
extracted a large amount of cash and gave it to Nabiki.  
  
Shaking her head as she took the money, Nabiki bemusedly  
responded. "Uh, yeah, right. So he's still planning on taking her to  
The Diamond Chandelier?" The restaurant she named was an expensive  
French restaurant on the other side of Tokyo; if Kuno were to go  
there,it'd undoubtedly be in the family limo, and he'd have to find  
Ranma new formal clothes. Nabiki almost unconsciously suppressed the  
jealousy she felt. Instead, she focused on what she'd get out of the  
event. 'Ka-ching! I'm sure whatever dress he finds for her will fetch  
a pretty price. Or maybe I'll keep it for myself, for the prom...'  
  
Her mercenary planning was interrupted by Sasuke. "Yes. Master Kuno is  
confident that each time they meet, he is one step closer to breaking  
Saotome's spell."  
  
Nabiki looked sharply at her helper, but the ninja's rodent-like  
features were surprisingly impassive. Normally, Nabiki's trained eyes  
would be able to pick out a flurry of emotions in Sasuke's face  
whenever he spoke of his master, but he seemed to be trying to keep  
his face still. 'What's going on?' Nabiki wondered, but before she  
could pursue the matter, Sasuke continued, "Master Kuno is interested  
in this potion you use ... he wishes to know how it keeps Saotome from  
locating his lady love. He has authorized me to pay 500,000 yen for  
the formula."  
  
Nabiki's eyes bulged outwards. 'Hmm, so Kuno still thinks this is a  
magic potion. That's good; it means he probably won't go looking  
around for anybody else to provide the formula. But if he does, he'll  
go to the chemistry club, and they'll give it to him. It didn't take  
much convincing for them to give it to me, after all. Even worse would  
be if Kuno asked somebody else; there's too great a chance one of the  
fiancees would find out." She carefully avoided considering what would  
happen if Ranma himself were to find out. "Kuno just doesn't  
understand the value of cool discretion. It's too risky -- I'd better  
keep him satisfied.' All of this took just a second of thought; Nabiki  
narrowed her eyes, and replied, "Sure thing. Anything for Kuno-baby,  
after all." And with that she hastily scrawled the recipe on a piece  
of paper, and handed it over to Sasuke. "Just make sure Ranko's back  
at the dojo by midnight."  
  
While she was thinking of Ranma and the potion, she bent over and  
tilted his head back while pressing a bottle to his lips. Soon enough  
the liquid in the bottle was vanished, and Nabiki began softly  
slapping Ranma's cheeks. "ugh, whassh going on? Pops, zatyu?" the  
small red-head slurred.  
  
"Time for you to wake up, little Ranko..." Nabiki chided. Ranma -- or  
Ranko, as Nabiki had told Kuno her name was -- was entirely out of it,  
unable to focus on what was going on. "Just accompany the rat-faced  
one, and he'll get you all sorted out."  
  
Sasuke's face remained impassive, despite her dig at him. Handing over  
the promised sum for the formula, he slipped his arm around Ranko, and  
turned to go; as he began to step away, he stopped and silently  
turned back. "Nabiki Tendo, answer me this question: why do you do this  
to a family member?"  
  
Not showing her surprise at Sasuke's question, Nabiki innocently  
asked, "Why, Sasuke, do you think I would stand in the way of  
happiness for my dear cousin Ranko and her beloved?" Seeing he was not  
content with that, she mercurially changed her speech. "Look, Kuno  
wants a date with his goddess, and is willing to pay well for that  
privilege. Ranko needs a little /convincing/ to not cause a scene; I  
provide that convincing. They go out for a dinner, a few drinks, they  
go home. Kuno has a wonderful time, and in the morning, Ranko won't  
even remember what happened. No harm, no foul, right?" Nabiki didn't  
even notice that her speech had sped up throughout the speech.  
  
Sasuke's form was silent. Then, haltingly, the words Nabiki was  
waiting for came. "Yes. No harm, no foul." Slowly turning, he left,  
dragging the semi-aware Ranko behind him. Nabiki looked at his  
retreating back for a few minutes, idly fingering the thick wad of  
cash in her pocket.  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
"Ranma, m'boy, you're getting sloppy! Oh, if your mother were here to  
see you now!" Bemoaning the cruel fates, Genma threw his son,  
currently a busty red-headed girl, out the window into the koi pond in  
the backyard. The still sleepy girl sat up in the pond and cried,  
"Hey! What'd you do that for?"  
  
Despite her obvious grogginess, the girl had jumped to her feet by the  
time the gi-clad Gemma had landed after his own jump out the window,  
and with loud battle cries the two streaked at each other, the impact  
of their meeting cracking through the air.  
  
This signal was a sharp stick probing the house's ant hill, as its  
inhabitants began scurrying into their daily activities, the sound of  
striking flesh from Genma and Ranma's morning spar serving as an  
oddly-compelling percussive background.  
  
Nabiki was not normally a morning person, but she had been only  
lightly sleeping; her normal deep sleep had been troubled the past few  
nights, since her interaction with Sasuke. The Ice Queen rubbed her  
eyes, before swinging out of bed and into the hallway.  
  
"Good morning, Nabiki." Her older sister Kasumi smiled pleasantly at  
her before heading downstairs. "You're up early today; let me start  
the furo filling, and then I'll begin breakfast."  
  
Nabiki smiled back. "Oh, no need to rush for me, sis. I've got some  
work to do that'll keep me busy for a while anyway." For a minute,  
Nabiki allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to be as sweet  
and innocent as Kasumi, before she shook her head, and went back into  
her room. 'Gotta focus, girl; time is money.'  
  
She turned back into her room and, digging out her ledger, sat herself  
at her desk. Flipping to the latest entries, she barely heard the  
cries coming from the yard; her thoughts started filling with the  
details of her operations, leaving her with little room for less  
mercenary concerns.  
  
'Ah, this month is going to be /very/ profitable,' she thought. 'And  
all thanks to the new money from Kuno-baby." She felt a little  
uncomfortable; she was used to extorting a little cash from people,  
but this latest scheme was putting her in a whole new ball-park. She  
was actually gathering enough capital that she could get started in  
the business world directly, instead of slaving her way up the  
corporate ladder for years until her youth and passion were  
gone. 'Well, this won't be enough for everything, but it's a step in  
the right direction. A very big step.'  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
At school several days later, Nabiki was dragging Kuno's unconscious  
body to the nurse's station. "Kuno-baby, you really should have gotten  
the point by now. My little sister is not interested in you."  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, your mercenary ways have blinded you to true love. Your  
sister's loves for me parallels that of my beautiful pig-tailed  
goddess. If only not for that sorceror Saotome, who fiendishly renders  
her incapable of expressing her adoration!'' proclaimed the  
apparently-conscious-after-all upper-classman.  
  
"Sure, Kuno-baby. I'm sure in the month before we graduate that she'll  
come flying into your arms." She set him on the nurse's couch, and  
held out her hand expectantly.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, I despise you." But even as he delivered that flat  
message, Kuno nonetheless handed over a quantity of coin. "But I must  
meet with the pig-tailed girl again. The soothing charms of the  
goddess are all that slake the raging passions that would otherwise  
consuming me! No mountain is too lofty, no burden too great, no cost  
too much for me!''  
  
Nabiki hesitated. Seeing that hesitation, Kuno lifted his hand to his  
pocket, and began toying with a piece of paper there. As he began  
lifting it, it became obvious it was a check. "Kuno-baby, you know I  
had to drug hi,uh,her last time. Do you really enjoy having dinner  
with a zombie?"  
  
"Tendo-san, if that is the only way I can enjoy her company without  
the accursed Saotome's magic turning her against me... then love gives  
me no choice."  
  
Nabiki thought. She had arranged this sort of 'date' several times  
before for Kuno, but she was starting to feel a bit uneasy about  
it. Although Ranma seemed to not remember a thing, he seemed to have  
nightmares for a few days following. But it wasn't like Kuno was doing  
anything wrong to Ranma... she needed more time to think. "Let's talk  
about this after school, Kuno-baby. Let's meet at the usual place;  
your treat, of course."  
  
When the meeting came at a local ice cream shoppe, Nabiki had made a  
decision, and firmed her resolve -- she had enough money, and even a  
high-stakes gambler knows there's a time to fold. "Sempai, you know  
that I told you before, if this is done too often Ranma will get  
suspicious that Ranko is seeing someone else. And there's just no  
telling what will happen then." She managed to keep a straight face  
as she said her story, but didn't bother hiding her mocking tone; Kuno  
had never noticed it before, why would today be any different?  
  
"The horror of this situation. Truly, the Master's tale of Romeo and  
his Juliette is no more tragic than Kuno and his tree-borne kettle  
girl." Kuno continued on for several minutes in a bizarre chain of  
allusions. Rather than try to decipher the riddle of what he actually  
meant, Nabiki only sighed. Kuno finally finished, "Know this,  
Tendo-san, that as Alexander cut the intricate Gordian knot, so Love  
may find a path for my love to flare brightly."  
  
Throwing down coins to pay for her ice cream, Kuno wandered off, his  
hand firmly gripping his bokken and his gaze intent on some sight only  
he could see.  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Akane, disgusted with Ranma's latest gaffe, ran out of her house and  
towards Furinkan high. Her fiance came running after, having paused to  
grab two bentos containing their lunch. "Hey, wait up, Akane. I  
didn't mean nothin' by it!" He came closer to Akane, reaching out an  
arm with her bento. "And you forgot your lunch. It's Kasumi's, so  
it's bound to be good. Come on, slow down!"  
  
Akane silently steeled her gaze forward, concentrating on the  
pounding of her feet on the pavement and the swish of her dress as she  
ran. 'What's he trying to imply by that? That my lunches aren't good?  
That jerk!' She didn't even notice going by the lady throwing water on  
the sidewalk until she heard Ranma's suddenly soprano cursing behind  
her. "Ha!"  
  
Ranma was not nearly so amused, as she stopped to wring the excess  
water from her shirt. 'Damn it, why can't I ever catch a break? If it  
ain't some ol' lady or another, it's a broken fire hydrant, or a  
drunken Super-Soaker salesmen convention!' Realizing her shirt  
was as dry as it was going to get, the female Ranma started to hurry  
after the disappearing figure of Akane. 'Maybe I can be on time for a  
change,' she thought, not noticing a shadow popping up beside her, and  
soon enough she didn't notice anything at all.  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Akane was feeling quite pleased with herself as the school bell  
rang. She had actually managed to arrive early to school, something  
that happened all too infrequently since Ranma had shown up in her  
life last year, and had a pleasant conversation with Sayuri. They were  
still talking over the latest gossip when they entered the classroom  
and took their seats. The bell rang, and Akane realized the desk  
beside her was still empty. 'Where is Ranma? He should have been along  
just after me. Ooh, and he had my lunch, too. He'd better not be  
skipping just so I'm hungry!' Her classmates ignored his absence, and  
the soft red glow that briefly appeared around her; they had grown  
quite accustomed to this sort of oddity surrounding Ranma and the  
Tendos.  
  
But when Ranma had not appeared by the next day, people were taking a  
bit more notice. Akane was obviously worried, although she was trying  
not to admit it; a crowd of students had grown up about her when she  
entered the wasp nest of a school yard, their voices an irritating  
buzz making it difficult for her to think, their questions about  
Ranma's absence only a further sting to her unsettled emotions.  
  
Sayuri came over to Akane, looking worried for her friend. "Akane, is  
it true? About Ranma and that new fiancee?"  
  
"What new fiancee?!" Akane screeched, her heart suddenly leaping up  
in her throat.  
  
"Well, Gendo was talking to Haruka last night at the mall, and they  
saw a blonde girl coming up to storekeepers,and they swear they heard  
her asking around for martial arts dojos. And you /know/ what that  
means...."  
  
"Sayuri, that doesn't mean anything. Not /everybody/ new  
around here is one of Ranma's fiancees." 'And Ranma wouldn't just up  
and leave me for somebody, would he?'  
  
Akane's other best friend, Yuka, chose that time to join them. "Yeah,  
Akane. Besides, what I heard is that some demons were fighting with  
somebody over in Juuban. The police aren't saying much, but Aiki  
insists her aunt was there, and definitely saw a pigtail. It's  
obviously Ranma!"  
  
"But then why didn't he come home last night?"  
  
"Oh, maybe the demons got him." Yuka grinned as she saw the fear on  
Akane's face. "Oh, I'm just kidding. You know Ranma, he's got more  
lives than a cat."  
  
Akane forced a nervous laugh. "Yeah, just don't tell him that."  
'Oh, Ranma, where are you?'  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
After school, Nabiki was drawn to the dojo by the sounds of  
smashing bricks. Recognizing her sister as the cause for the bricks'  
untimely demise, Nabiki lightly asked, "Seen any sign of your ingrate  
fiance, sis?"  
  
Akane's explosive grunt as another brick became dust was sufficient  
reply.  
  
"Look, sis, I know you're worried about him. I've asked ..."  
  
"Me, worried? He's probably off with that bimbo Shampoo! Or maybe  
Sayuri's right, maybe he's got himself somebody new to add to his  
harem!"  
  
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Nabiki tried to imitate  
Kuno's tones, with little success. But she could see Akane's mouth  
curling up slightly at the corners, so figured she had come close  
enough for her purposes. "Look, Akane, you know Ranma. He's probably  
off chasing some rumor of a Japanese Spring of Drowned Boy, or waiting  
for a challenger, or found an all-you-can-eat Sushi bar and is  
determined he isn't going to leave until there's no food left."  
  
Akane managed a smile at that. "That sounds like you, Nabiki. Going to  
get your money's worth and all."  
  
"Moi? I am hurt, simply devastated that you could say such a thing of  
me. But really, Akane, I've asked people to keep an eye out for  
him. And it's not like he's never run off before without telling you;  
maybe he's decided to go visit some ancient training ground. I bet  
you he'll come strolling in here by himself by this weekend, never  
even having thought somebody'd worry about him."  
  
Akane had noticeably relaxed during Nabiki's speech. "Oh, I guess  
you're right, Nabiki. I was just over-reacting. You know me, ol'  
emotional Akane."   
  
'OK, she's calmed down some. Still upset, but at least Kasumi and I  
are likely to live through tonight. Damn you, Saotome, where are you?   
What am I going to have to do to convince you to treat her better?   
When you get back, expect to suffer like you've never suffered  
before.'  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Author's Notes:   
  
Well, this is the first fic I've written that I'm actually releasing  
to the public. I've already got a second chapter drafted, which is a  
bit darker, and includes some more exciting bits (read: less  
dialogue), but I wanted some feedback on this chapter first before  
finalizing it. (That way I can unobtrusively fix the more embarrassing  
things, before people see them repeated again and again. :-)  
  
I wrote this fic because I originally was caught by the potential  
consequences in 'Picking up the Pieces', where Nabiki sells Ranma to  
Kuno, but Kuno goes a little further than expected. I wanted to change  
events slightly, though, and focus a bit more on the characters, so  
this was the result. (Accordingly, I'm most interested in whether  
people buy the characterization. Also, I don't feel quite happy with  
the character's voices, but I'm not sure exactly how to improve the  
dialogue).  
Incidentally, in case this isn't clear, in this continuity, Sasuke  
believes in separate Ranma and Ranko identities. 


	2. Chapter 2

- Chapter 2 -  
  
Up on the roof of the Tendo dojo, Akane lay, staring up into the clear, azure sky, wanting only to relax after a long and exhausting week. The sun bathed her weary muscles, energy showered over her in a glorious bounty, each minute under its stream washing away hours of stress. The distant murmur of birds were as exciting an orchestral accompaniment as the day deserved, and Akane's eyes began to steadily close.  
  
But the percussion section must have felt left out, and begun to improvise a part; the ladder that the Tendos kept in the dojo was clattering on the ground below, a sure sign that somebody else wanted to come up to the roof. The people Akane would have wanted to talk to would have scorned a ladder -- Akane had been learning a martial artist's pride of late, but the other martial artists were still much fiercer about asserting their capabilities -- so she knew it was somebody come to scold her.  
  
Akane stubbornly focused on a distant object and hoped that her inattention would be a hint to her unwelcome guests. But Kasumi's sweet voice was a jangling distraction that wouldn't be easily put aside. "Hello, Akane. We haven't seen you all week, so we thought we'd join you up here and talk." The tone was light, but there was a deep layer of concern lying beneath. Perhaps only a sister would have recognized it, but having done so, Akane knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this confrontation. Particularly with Nabiki supporting Kasumi. The two of them together never backed down against their little sister -- witness how they had given her to Ranma in the first place.   
  
Instead, she sighed, swinging her legs around to sit facing her two sisters. "Well, you know, I've been busy with stuff." She toyed with her hair -- she had started letting it grow out in the last few weeks, and it was by now down to her neck -- fiddling with her hair was a useful distraction at times, even if she didn't like catching herself doing it. Bad habits could drive people away, after all.  
  
"Doing what, Akane? You've been searching for Ranma, haven't you? Even after Daddy told you not to." That was Nabiki, as suspicious as Kasumi was concerned. "Of course, you know, now that Daddy's dissolved the arrangement, you could relax, and date some other boys. Ranma will eventually come back, trailing his tail between his legs, once he's worked out whatever's bothering him." 'After I make him grovel a bit for what he's done to you, of course.'  
  
"Yeah, and what happens when he does? He's going to come back and find me married off to some loser who conned Daddy into an engagement for food, or else I'm going to be fat, old, and ugly! I am not going to sit down and just let that happen!" Akane made her words a stinging slap in the faces of her sisters.  
  
"But, Akane, that doesn't mean you should shut out your family." Kasumi, taking up the challenge.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't think any of you understand what it's like. You're just content to sit here, let Daddy tell you what to do, and pretend that everything's normal. Well, it's not. I'm not normal, Ranma's not normal, nothing in this entire city is normal! Closing your eyes to the truth is just stupid!" Akane's charges held nothing back, until she finally overextended herself.  
  
"Oh, so we're stupid? But Ukyo isn't, of course. She's so much a better partner than any of your loving family. Because this is all about your precious RANMA. And nobody should act rationally where RANMA is concerned." Nabiki's flurry began as hot jabs and cooled to a chilling punch, straight to Akane's gut.  
  
"Nabiki..." Kasumi chided, her conversational stance weakening.  
  
"Kasumi, no, it's time to have this out. We've been beating about the bush for weeks now, and she's just been avoiding the issue. Akane, you're absolutely right; closing your eyes to the truth IS stupid. Ranma LEFT you. I don't know exactly why, I don't know where, but he is GONE." Nabiki was in fine form, her stance perfect, her jabs piercing.  
  
"You don't know exactly why? But you do have some idea, don't you?" Akane had been making a wild accusation, feeling a need to strike out against Nabiki's words, but then she saw something in her sister's dark eyes. "What do you know, Nabiki? What are you hiding?"   
  
Akane's familiar annoyance was starting to crystallize into a even more familiar berserker rage, and Nabiki knew she needed to act quickly if she was going to survive; a few more minutes, and Akane wouldn't be listening to anything anyone said. "Moi, Akane? That's the sort of thing Kasumi and I are talking about, you're lashing out at your friends and family. I, no, we" -- she turned to look at Kasumi -- "think that maybe you should go in for some counseling next week."  
  
"Both of you? Me? Counseling? I can't believe this!" Nabiki gulped. Akane's figure was starting to glow red, as her battle aura came flaming into existence in strict defiance of the laws of nature... this was the sort of fury normally reserved for Ranma's most foolish mistakes, not the sort normal, non-suicidal humans wanted to be in the path of.  
  
But Kasumi stood her ground, placid and enduring. "Yes, Akane. And Father. We may not know where Ranma is, and we want to find him just as much as you do, but going around breaking into random people's houses not doing any good. You've been like this for weeks now; people have already started complaining around the neighborhood."  
  
Akane knew that Kasumi had a point. The Japanese famously tried to solve problems outside of their court system, so disputes were usually settled through the intervention of neighbors. Most of the people whose houses she had investigated (like the Kunos) were not popular with the surrounding community, to say the least, so if the neighbors were now taking their complaints seriously....  
  
Nonetheless, some things were too important to give way to the neighbors' offended pride. "If certain people were willing to help me, maybe we'd have found something by now. But as it is, half the time the people are there waiting for me, making sure I 'be careful'...." As she spoke, the red around Akane began lightening into a blinding orange, and streaks of yellow were beginning to flare.  
  
The waves of pressure being thrown off from her sister's aura made Nabiki stumble back, as she raised her hand to shield her eyes. "You know, some of my customers depend on my services, sis. I couldn't let them down in the lurch..." That wasn't helping; she shut her eyes. That helped some; she could only see a faint glow through her eyelids.  
  
No sooner had her words been recognized, then the glow seemed to flare outward, and she was knocked off her feet, to roll down the roof, towards the edge, her fingers scrabbling for purchase, missing any handholds, coming closer... yes!, she managed to lodge her feet against the gutter.   
  
"You think this is a time to worry about MONEY!? AARRGGH! I HATE YOU!" With an inarticulate cry of rage, Akane leapt, becoming a sun in the sky, before her shape receded in the distance, marked only by a cascade of falling telephone poles.   
  
"Well, I think Akane's is growing stronger," Kasumi smiled, attempting to put the best face on the situation. She strode over to the edge of the roof, and helped Nabiki climb up to a more secure position.   
  
"Yeah, you could say that," Nabiki finally managed, after a few minutes to catch her breath. "I think it's a good thing I've got the party tonight; no more family discussions for a while." She began climbing down the ladder, and then felt even more depressed when a thought struck her. 'How did Kasumi stay standing through all that? Am I the only normal one in this family?'  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
An hour or so later, Kasumi and Nabiki were inside the middle Tendo daughter's room, as Nabiki prepared for the night's party. She slipped out of her normal, everyday shorts while looking in the closet for her dress, talking over her shoulder to Kasumi all the while.  
  
"Only a few more weeks until I get out of Nerima, finally. You know, it's odd, this summer has been surprisingly peaceful, but it's only whetted my appetite to get away from the Nerima chaos. I mean, we've put up with this all our lives, and now I'm just tired of it. I want out in the real world, to make money, find myself a normal guy who doesn't go berserk over the martial arts, to find myself a normal life!"  
  
"Oh, Nabiki. This hasn't been such a bad life, has it? You were happy here, I think." Kasumi stepped over to the closet and picked up an outfit Nabiki had discarded. "Oh, my, this is what Prince Toma gave to you, isn't it? That was such a fun adventure... I hadn't enjoyed myself so much in, hmm...." Kasumi's voice trailed off a bit as she considered.   
  
"It was an experience, all right. " Nabiki considered the clothes, then took it back from Kasumi. It was too tame to attract the attention she wanted tonight; the sort of sophisticated party-goer she was stalking were used to flash. Smirking, she stretched out a finger to grab a thin line of black cloth hanging from the closet rod. 'I have to admit, I liked poking things up, but now I'm just tired of it.'  
  
"Oh, I never thought you cared much for sashes, Nabiki."  
  
"I don't. But dresses, now those I like..." Nabiki's smirk widened, as Kasumi mouth opened in a perfect 'o' of appreciation. "And I definitely want to impress Kuno-chan's guests."  
  
"Oh dear, you aren't going after Tatewaki, are you? "  
  
"Kuno? I could gag. Why do you think I'd waste my time with him, when there are so many other, less deluded fish in the sea?"  
  
Kasumi tilted her head, indicating her seriousness. "Well, with how you've said Tatewaki's settled down these last few months, I was thinking he might help cheer up Akane."   
  
Nabiki shook her head, as she started to take off her shirt. "Yeah, he's settled down, sis, but I don't think Akane's going to be warming up to him anytime soon. He's stopped the insane challenges, but he still pesters her to date him at least once a week." Tossing the shirt to the bed, Nabiki walked over to the mirror in the corner, making a final check that she hadn't suddenly sprouted horns or been tattooed by a wandering martial artist.  
  
"He still asks her out, even though he's going away soon? How romantic." Kasumi looked wistfully into the distance.   
  
'Oh, boy. She's not usually this blind; I think she's getting tired of Tofu's antics. Maybe I'd better offer my assistance soon in landing her catch. But not tonight; tomorrow. I don't want anything distracting me tonight.'   
  
"So why /are/ you so excited about this party, Nabiki? That dress looks a bit much, even for you."  
  
"Not my fault I'm the one with all the fashion sense in this family, sis. I'm excited because this party is where I'm going to start making contacts for the real world. The more people I impress tonight, the easier life will be after college."  
  
"But Nabiki, I thought you had accepted the offer from Kuno Industries."  
  
"I'm thinking about it, but if I just jumped into bed with him, there goes all of my leverage. Keep your options open, sis... and speaking of which, that's why you should start dating other people, so Tofu realizes he's got to win you over." 'OK, that's a freebie for tonight, Kasumi. Better take advantage of it.'  
  
Kasumi didn't respond, but her cheeks reddened.  
  
"Anyway, Kuno may have cleaned up his act recently, but deep down I think he's the same person he's always been. He and I have a lot of history, and I think I want a clean break." 'That way, I can avoid people thinking of me as an Ice Queen forever.'   
  
Shooing Kasumi out of her room, Nabiki quickly continued undressing, before beginning the painstaking process of making herself appear casually elegant.   
  
She had barely finished, her elaborate hour of work not visible to anyone who didn't closely examine her face, but working to smooth out the few flaws in her natural skin, when she heard the telephone ring.  
  
Cursing softly at the interruptions to her plans, she picked up the handset. "Hello, Nabiki speaking. What do you want?"  
  
The voice on the other end relieved her irritation. "Nabiki Tendo, your not-entirely-dulcet tone is the angels' choir to me today. But I called simply to inquire whether you were prepared for the limousine to pick you up." Kuno's voice seemed somewhat strained, as if he were physically holding his tongue to stop himself from babbling on about some new development in his rich fantasy life.  
  
"Yep, just finished." Nabiki couldn't muster her normal layer of sarcasm in the face of this evening's potential. "I'll be waiting outside for Sasuke in just a minute."  
  
Kunos voice was noticeably less joyful. "Actually, I must admit that my loyal retainer is indisposed tonight, and the Kuno family has had to draw upon the services of a rental agency."  
  
Nabiki laughed silently to herself at the manifest shame in Kunos voice. Since his reconciliation with his father last month, Kuno had been throwing around his social rank a lot more. She had had more fun tweaking his nose in it the last few weeks than she had the entire previous year -- particularly since Kuno had seemed to shake off a large part of his buffoon persona. She actually started being subtle in her mockery, mixing it throughly between layers of innuendo and deceptive speech. It seemed to be working, keeping her mind flexible and sharp when she could easily be dulling it by simply floating through the college entrance exams.  
  
That subtlety had paid off quite well, as Kuno relaxed more around her. She hadn't realized just how large the Kuno fortune was until his father called in the Prime Minister, on very short notice, to speak at their graduation. After learning that, she had upgraded the services she provided Kuno by helping him avoid some of the more embarrassing situations that plagued Nerima. And, of course, she had insisted on being handsomely rewarded for that. A promised executive position, if she chose, and an introduction to the elite social circles... exactly what she needed to make her own way in the world.  
  
But she was pretty sure she wouldn't take him up on his offer of a position within the Kuno family company. Not only did she want to make a break with her past, she wanted to remain on good terms with her family. It was pretty clear that Ranma had ended up suspecting something about his dates with Kuno; maybe he had started building up a resistance to the drugs, maybe something else had given him a hint. Once he had worked off his rage and disgust, he would be back for Akane. It's certainly a good idea to not alienate her future brother-in-law any more than necessary. 'And that's the one predictable thing about Ranma,' Nabiki thought, 'he'll never stay down for long when Akane's involved.'  
  
But back to trolling the fish. "Oh, I'm sure your impressive offer will guarantee good service," Nabiki purred in response to Kuno, before making her excuses and hanging up. She burst out giggling, at that. 'Get a hold of yourself, Nabiki. There's no guarantee how this night will turn out. And besides, maybe you will take that job after all.'  
  
She slipped out of her room, almost skipping down the stairs, and out the door to wait for her ride, not hearing as the phone began ringing again.  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Akane hopped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to regain her control. The air around her, heavy with her dark emotions, noticeably slowed her down, probably the only reason she wasn't already outside of the city limits.   
  
As she came to a park, Akane descended to the ground, and among the peace of the trees, began to unclench her fists. She had lived with her sisters for years, and knew what they were trying to do. 'They just don't understand Ranma, though; they never really adjusted to what his life is like, since they stayed out of most of it.' Her thoughts continued in this bitter vein, until she came to the lake that resided at the center of the park. There she knelt and began the slow, deliberate process of meditation, opening herself to the world as she contemplated the periodic ripples in the water.  
  
Had she not opened up her senses, she would have missed the two shadowy figures slinking out of the wooded areas behind her back. But she did, and quickly without hurrying rose to her feet, pivoting to face them, alert and ready.  
  
Her alertness proved wasted as the taller of the two stretched up and waved. "Hey, Akane! We've been looking all over for you, sugar!" The two figures came bounding over to the lake, before finally coming to a stop directly in front of Akane.  
  
"Oh, hey, Ukyo." Even to Akane's ears, that sounded flat. The meditation didn't seem to have left her at peace, just tired. "Any luck on the search?" Had she truly had any hope for Ukyo's search, she would have been excited, but as it was...  
  
Akane wasn't surprised that Ukyo looked excited. Ukyo was relentlessly optimistic in everything she did; by the second week after Ranma's disappearance, she had assumed Ranma was stuck in the neko-ken, and had promptly hijacked a milk truck and spent a week haunting animal shelters, the parks, and people's backyards. She didn't give up until after the Animal Control tranquilized her, and promised to step up their own patrols to look for a human who thinks he's a cat. But after that, she just stopped worrying about it; no real regrets, just on to the next plan with as much enthusiasm as ever: conducting a house-to-house search of the entire ward. And if that failed, she'd probably go on to the rest of Japan.  
  
Akane was surprised, however, to see that Shampoo's face bright and cheery. The lavender-haired Amazon, when finally convinced that the other fiancees were not holding Ranma captive somewhere to prevent his marriage to her, had become a grim-faced huntress in pursuit of Ranma. Her shakedown of the local dojos in pursuit of clues had been entertaining. Well, at least for most onlookers, if not the dojos' masters (the Martial Arts Aromatherapy had resulted in two city blocks reeking of lemon-grass for a week and a half, but many of the audience had decided that fiasco was was more than made up for by the Martial Arts Massage challenge).  
  
Shampoo was visibly bouncing on her toes. "Akane, I just now back from China. I have compass to find Ranma! We go..."  
  
"WHAT!?" Akane found her nose suddenly pressed to Shampoo's. "What's this about China?" Shampoo was off the ground, that was odd. "What's this about Ranma?!" And Shampoo was having trouble trouble breathing. What was going on?  
  
Suddenly Ukyo swung her spatula, knocking Akane away from Shampoo. "Stop it! She'll tell you IN A MINUTE!"  
  
'Oh, that was what was going on.' Akane slid backwards, into the lake, and briefly floundered in the shallow water.  
  
"What'd you do _that_ for?" Akane yelled, realizing that she could sit in the water with no fear of drowning.   
  
"Akane, you're being ridiculous. Shampoo was about to tell you about her compass before you lost it." Ukyo calmly held out her spatula so that Akane could grab a hold of it and clamber sullenly to her feet.  
  
"Is ok. She always like that." Shampoo's good humor had apparently been completely restored by her trip to China. "Great-grandmother and I go to China last week, fought tribe for Compass of Location. I won, and now, we find Ranma!" Shampoo reached into the neckline of her silk pant-suit, removing a large golden compass on a metal necklace, until now hidden beneath her hair. She cupped it protectively while tilting her hands so that Akane could see it.  
  
"A compass? How is that going to help us? We know what direction north is!" Akane was disgusted. She had briefly seen an end to her search, but Shampoo was either playing the bimbo role to the hilt, or mocking her. Neither one was appreciated where Ranma was concerned. "Come on, Ukyo, let's go back to searching. Maybe we'll find some trace of him at the Japanese Nannichuan."  
  
Ukyo remained standing, settling a serious gaze on Akane. "Akane, listen to Shampoo for once. This is too important for our feuds." There was no hesitation in Ukyo's voice, no trace of the cunning that she sometimes exhibited when trying to manipulate her rivals. "Shampoo, show her what it can do."  
  
Shampoo closed her eyes, and began murmuring under her breath. The compass began glowing, lighting up the area. The entire scene began to feel hyper-realistic to Akane -- she felt like she could count the threads of silk in Shampoo's outfit, see every dimple that years of pounding had beaten into Ukyo's spatula, feel the separate pulses of her blood as the various valves in her heart closed and opened -- and then Shampoo opened her eyes and said one recognizable word, her high-pitched voice ineffably deeper and resonating: "Ranma."  
  
The gold of the compass seemed to gather itself into a ball, and then spread out, forming a ray as it shot across the lake and into the town. Akane could only watch dumbfounded with her heightened senses as it seemed to descend on a particular block in the rich section of town, and then highlighting one familiar estate.  
  
The beam slowly faded, taking with it the hypersenses, and in the now ill-focused reality Akane looked around at the other two. "What was that beam? Did it just show us where Ranma is?"  
  
"Aiyah," Shampoo softly said. "It ancient treasure of the Joketzusoku. How I track Ranma to Japan years ago. Should never never be brought away from village; but I challenge for it, I win. It always shows the truth; Ranma is at end of the beam." From some hidden cache in the park, Shampoo must have drawn her weapons; she placed a bow on the ground before her, and began inspecting a sword, making sure it was ready for use.  
  
Ukyo walked stiffly away from the other two, stepping right at the edge of the lake, gazing at the ripples. She started a low-voiced litany, obviously not expecting a response. "You remember when we were in that area, don't you, Akane? There was a party, but people were leaving; they had been expecting us, somehow, and didn't want to risk the social faux pas of confronting us directly. Then we got a guided tour, before their bodyguards asked us to leave. And we left. It didn't feel right, but we left; they were open, they were agreeable, they were forewarned, they tricked us, they tricked us, the Kunos tricked us!" By the end Ukyo was shouting, and sobbing, and swinging her spatula in the air, surely decapitating any invisible ninja who might have been creeping up on her.  
  
Akane was in little better condition, but she managed to step up to Ukyo and rest her hand on Ukyo's shoulder. "I remember, Ukyo. But we don't know it's them yet. There could be some reasonable explanation. And if there isn't...." Akane stopped; there was no need to go further.  
  
Shampoo slipped her sword into a scabbard tied around her waist, and picked up the bow. "No time to talk. We go now." She resolutely turned and began slipping towards the trees.  
  
"No," Akane softly said, her mind still clouded by emotion but determined for once not to let her strategy be dictated by that. "I've got a bad feeling about this. First, let me call the dojo, and..." Akane swallowed. "...get some help."  
  
Ukyo had stopped, and then her expression firmed. "Yes, and then we'll see Ranchan, no matter what!"  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Author's notes: Wow, this has been a while. Some people manage to throw out an incredible chapter every few weeks, it seems; but I manage to take half a year to crank this out :-) My thanks to the brave people who sent me encouragement and feedback on the previous chapter. I'm no longer holding to my previous estimate of there being 3 chapters in total; my current guess is at least 5, but I'm not committing any money to it.   
  
This chapter is very much a 'setting things up' chapter. I tried to 'show, not tell', but I'd appreciate feedback on that (even if it's just a simple YES or NO, although more details would be certainly appreciated). As always, any and all comments, including flames, lampooning, MSTing, and cash money is appreciated. 


	3. Chapter 3

- Chapter 3 -  
  
Ranma stirred, restless. He had felt his body being moved earlier that day. 'How strange,' he thought, 'I just got moved yesterday, after all.' Realizing something unusual was occuring, Ranma tensed his muscles, exerted every bit of the formidable will that ten years of martial discipline had inculcated within him, and managed to open his eyelids.  
  
It was no use, though, as he could only make out blurred figures. With another titanic effort, he managed to painfully snap his eyes to focus on one figure -- a familiar-looking tuxedo-clad man, with a flower boucquet in one hand, something golden in the other, and with a bokken at his side. The act of focusing his eyes was physically painful, and almost immediately they drifted away. He could not focus; what had happened. He did not know. His eyes drooped. As they went down, he saw white... his clothes? He saw blackness.  
  
--------------------  
  
He was floating in the air, an invisible observer to a peaceful scene.  
  
He saw an island, thrusting upright into the azure sky, thin wisps of clouds floating in their lazy way. Ominous smoke came from the mountain's top, joining the clouds in their journey. Beneath those clouds, there was a sea, in which small fishing boats bobbed, making their way in pursuit of sustenance. And in that sea, on one boat, a small human figure clad in the robes of a tribal priest gesturing wildly with a long staff held in his hand, gesticulating in front of a large pile of empty nets on the deck.  
  
The crew of the small boat seemed to pay little attention to the priest, making perfunctory and ritual as the priest hectored them. Perhaps due to something the priest said, however, the boat shifted course, and made rapid progress towards the island. The priest had stopped speaking and instead stood in silent dignity at the boat's prow.  
  
As the boat beached in the shallow waters off the pristine beach, the man stepped off the prow into the waters, and strode with due pomp ashore. He turned to face the men struggling to secure the craft and retrieve their cargo, his oratory returning to his mouth as if it had not left.  
  
The men finally assembled before the priest, presenting a large chest four men had taken from the boat's deck. A smaller figure -- evidently the priest's serveant -- came from below decks and emerged, carrying a large golden key. Using the key to unlock the chest, the servant threw open the top to reveal its contents: a red-haired woman, unconscious, her skin pale, lay inside.  
  
The servant then withdrew a bottle that had lain at the woman's feet, and tipped it to her mouth. The liquid poured over her slack lips, disappearing into her mouth like water on a desert surface. Whether it be the liquid or the sun and sand, the red-haired woman soon stirred, her eyelids weakly fluttering open.  
  
Content, the priest barked a short command, and two of the sailors bent down and drew the woman to her feet, half-carrying her between them. The group began to march off the beach, towards the steep mountain slope, finding a trail which they then followed. The trial allowed them to make good time, so that the day was not yet done by the time they reached the top.  
  
The mountain-top thrust up into the sky as a lone scout in this sea; the boats still out in the darkening sky looked like nothing so much as toys, floating in the bathtub of the gods. The woman by this time almost seemed aware of what was going on around her... but perhaps not. She was still being supported by the men. All remained on the outer edge of the top where the trail concluded, wordlessly leaving the ominous smoking hole at the center alone.  
  
The priest gestured with the staff. The men brough the woman to the edge of the hole. The black-clad priest made one final comment to the men around, and pushed the woman in. She went without a sound, so very fast, into the red recesses below. The priest laughed. The ground rumbled.  
  
At that, the men quickly left, their excitement subdued. By the time they returned to the boat, the volcano appeared much more ominous. They were no more than a mile offshore when they witnessed an explosive plume of molten lava at the top of the mountain; they redoubled their efforts to make speed away from the island. The priest remained at the back, a frown stretching across his face. He did not appear to have been expecting this result.  
  
And what they couldn't see -- what perhaps only an invisible observer in the sky could see -- was hidden beneath the waves. Miles of tentacles floated in the water, sleeping until the stars were aligned in the sky... but they seemed much more active now than they had been before the boat's recent arrival at the isle.  
  
--------------------  
  
The long, black limousine pulled silently through the narrow streets of Nerima, its dark elegance an odd counterpoint to the lazy late afternoon stillness that had descended upon the ward. The houses around it began to transform from the large but plain houses that characterized the Tendos' neighborhood into large, palatial estates, the city houses of the Japanese elite. The houses were becoming more and more elaborate, until the vehicle finally came to a halt before tall metal gates bearing the Kuno name in ornate lettering.  
  
The driver rolled down the privacy window inside the car. "Just a minute, Miss, I've got to go out and alert the house that we're coming in." He rolled down his window, and leaned out to the gatehouse.  
  
Nabiki leaned forward to the driver, making sure that her charms were exposed. 'Might as well practice on him.' "I don't recognize this house; are you sure it's the right place?" Nabiki breathed at him.  
  
"Yes, uhm, ma'am," the driver stammered. "I understand there might have been some remodelling done recently..." The man trailed off, his face reflecting a nervousness as much from his beautiful patroness's proximity as the hair's breadth he stood from contradicting her.  
  
"Oh, that's good to hear. It'd be boring if everybody knew the place," Nabiki said, as she settled back into her seat. 'In good form, Nabs. He was eating right out of your... hands.'  
  
But after the limousine pulled through the elegant circular driveway, letting Nabiki out by a fountain that glittered in the evening's full moon, and into the sparkling halls of power, Nabiki was feeling less pleased with herself. The party's guests, built up in her imagination as moguls and tycoons, were surprisingly mundane.  
  
Oh, she hadn't really expected anything else, not really, not consciously. But disappointment lay heavy in her heart nonetheless. 'Well, it's not like they're princes on a floating island. They're just people, like anybody else. And that's perfectly ok with me; I just want a nice ordinary path all the way to the top.'  
  
"Hark, here is the sharp-minded Tendo scion, come to lighten the room with her chilly radiance." Nabiki heard Kuno's tones; despite his poetic-but-still distant and condescending tone, the attention he directed her way was a comfort.  
  
"Hello, Kuno." Nabiki tried to keep her voice respectfully formal, but a hint of her normal tone with him must have slipped through. She saw a few of the guests blanch at her familiarity. 'Guess they're worried about offending their host,' Nabiki thought contemptously. 'They might have to buy their own cheese and fruit.'  
  
"Welcome to this abode, Tendo. Your transport was satisfactory, I hope?" Nabiki nodded. Kuno's earlier hidden ebullience was definitely there... but his face had become more mature, almost overnight since she had last seen him. In contrast to the tuxedo-clad crowd who were apparently following him around the party, Kuno was wearing a formal black kimono. Its silk flowed around his frame, making him appear taller, more in control of those around him. "You will consider my offer, yes? The myrmidon efforts of the faithful Kuno Industry workers are crying out for the efforts of a taskmistress as yourself. Your past services to the Kuno glory are but tokens of what can be achieved!"  
  
Nabiki smiled enigmatically. "Kuno baby, you're too kind. You supply the resources, I accomplished a few small things. But now, maybe we should go our own ways, hmm? You just concentrate on your money, and *I'll* worry about my way in life."  
  
Kuno nodded his head. "Very well, Tendo. Know that you may call upon us at any time; our debt to you is without bound."  
  
After he passed by, Nabiki shook her head.  
  
--------------------  
  
Genma Saotome was ill-prepared to fight his latest enemy. He could see the weaknesses, the potential openings, the strategy which would once again demonstrate his prowess and earn him food. But he couldn't summon the energy, couldn't bring himself to care. He weakly gestured towards a frightening apparition about to burst into the room, hoping to advantage of his and his opponent's distraction. But his opponent ignored the feeble gesture,  
  
"Atari!" his opponent, a one-time brother in arms, cried joyfully. "That makes it three pork rolls you owe me when next you go to market, Saotome! Now what was it you were looking at over there? " Soun Tendo, content with his easy victory over his larger-framed friend, looked easily over at the door.  
  
But there was nothing there. Soun hid a frown in his long moustache, One of the tenets of the Anything-Goes martial art that both he and Genma had learnt, and that Genma had further adapted, was the principle of surprise redirection. Genma's distraction had been so weak that Soun had assumed as a matter of course that it was real... a distraction should have seemed more real and heart-felt.  
  
"Old friend, come now, you must relax. Tomorrow you will be off to China, where you will have to brave the wilds and dangers accompanied only by your lovely wife. Your wife is so lovely..." Soun's mood evaporated completely in the space of an eyeblink, as he began to cry, reminded of his own wife ten years gone. He stopped trying to speak, and instead turned away and let the tears trickle down his cheeks. Genma remained silent, lost in his contemplations and plans.  
  
But soon a steely soft hand came to grip Soun's shoulder. "Genma..." Soun began, comforted at his friend's presence.  
  
But it wasn't his friend's voice who answered him. "No," in Nodoka's soft voice. "We will leave you now. Grief is a private matter, to be borne in sturdy solitude. You must embrace your duty and look to your family and your own needs."  
  
"No, Nodoka. That is all right." The dignity of the Tendo patriarch was restored -- at least on the surface. "I did not realize you had come back already from the embassy. Please, come this way... I'm sure Kasumi has some pastries for guests here in the kitchen, if you'll just come this way."  
  
"No, we should be going now. I intend to go over the route my husband and son took in China at least once more before Genma has to bouy up his spirits." A careful listener might have heard inflection points when she discussed her family -- but then again, a careful listener might not. Her control had grown admirably in the past months.  
  
"I see, Nodoka."  
  
Before he could bid the Saotomes a final farewell, however, Soun was interrupted. The telephone began to ring.  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
The three fiancees were gathered in a group before the gates leading to the Kuno estate. The sheer glam of the sight would have silenced them, but no words had escaped their tight-lipped mouths since the events with the compass. Ukyo held her spatula before her in a tight grip, while Shampoo keep shifting her hand from the reassuring presence of the bow leaning before her to the scabbarded sword. Akane was intent on holding her hands at her sides now that they were stopped, keeping her school skirt pressed against her side.  
  
"So you're sure this is where the compass pointed, Sampoo?" Akane reluctantly broke the silence, her tone more in tune with the dark gloom that had enveloped them in the trees than the golden, glittering gates before them, a semi-permeable membrane allowing those with class to enter and intent on keeping suspicious young teens out. Between the bars, Akane could see a long curving drive with long, sleek automobiles delivering women in long, glittering gowns. The women were met by tuxedo-clad men, the sharp cut lines of their tailored cloth making them distinct even at this distance.  
  
"I sure." Shampoo's Amazon bravado seemed unfazed by the display of High Civilization. "We go ask Stick-boy what he knows now, yes?" In the distance, an orchestra had materialized, playing a nocturne for the crowd as they began entering the house to the light of the setting sun. The orange light played its usual chromatic tricks upon the setting, giving the house a fiery backlight.  
  
Akane swallowed. Her earlier determination was not surviving contact with the Kuno estate. The fiery house, the Beautiful People.... "You don't think we should just wait until after the party, do you?"  
  
Ukyo turned and looked at her, dark steely eyes cool over her black school uniform, her stance a mute rebuke to Akane. She then shifted her attention back to the estate. "No. Ranchan is in there, I just know it! I'm not going to let that hussy Kodachi trick him any longer than I have to!" It wasn't clear that she was seeing what the others were seeing; Ukyo's eyes were manic. "That witch will leave my Ranchan alone!"  
  
"Well, I guess we can go in and see what's going on." Akane was determined that if the other two were going to be reckless, she'd remain cool. She could do it; she was usually calm and collected, after all.  
  
"I'm sure Kuno will have a few minutes to spare. Yes," Akane nodded firmly to herself. 'Of course, I don't think he could ever refuse one of us anything. I doubt he'll ever be able to resist a pretty face.'  
  
She slid open the metal gate, ignoring the shriek of the wheels in the tracks and the squawks that began sputtering from the loudspeaker peeking out from the ivy-covered fence. "Let's go, guys." They slipped inside the grounds, forming an uneasy line of drabness amongst the splendor.  
  
No sooner had they passed the first line of trees than several uniformed security men stepped out. "Going somewhere, folks? Got your invitations handy?" The question came from the lead man, a bearded fellow with hard eyes belying a ready grin.  
  
"Oh, we were just hoping to look around. Kuno -- Tatewaki Kuno -- he's a friend of ours, you see, " Akane half-lied. "We heard that there was a party, so we came by to see him."  
  
The man openly smirked. "Yes, I'm sure. Sorry, Misses, but we've been been alerted that there may be trouble going on today. Otherwise, we'd just let you head right on in there. " The men behind him were stoically impassive, but somehow they gave the impression of laughing at this last. Nonetheless, the bearded fellow gestured, and one of his men came up bearing a wireless videophone. "We'll just go right ahead and ask Mister Kuno if he's available to speak with you right now."  
  
A few minutes, a flawless video image was visible on the screen, and Akane could see Kuno's annoyed face staring out. "Why do you bother me, fool? The dinner begins anon, and I must review my annou... oh, darling Akane! It is a wonder that I could have noticed the setting of that distant fiery sun, when such a radiance as yours draws near."  
  
Akane realized that she had moved closer to the man, and must have become visible. "Uhm, hello, Sempai." Before she could say anything else, Kuno interrupted her.  
  
"Of course the gods above would have directed your presence to mine this day of all days. It is predestined, a star-crossed fate that would torment even the most Panglossian of lovers. We must meet. Come, attend me in the gardens." Kuno began to shift, clearly intending to sever the connection.  
  
"Sir! What about these others?" the bearded man quickly interjected.  
  
"What of them? Akane is the only visitor that I could care about on this day!" The image switched off, with an air of finality.  
  
Akane gulped. She just didn't understand the new Kuno sometimes. The same nascent air of mystery which accompanied Kuno as he graduated, which had attracted Nabiki firmly into his orbit, Akane found simply frustrating.  
  
But she did understand when the bearded man took her arm. "OK, Miss, let's go see the Boss. You fellows, get these others out of here." The last was directed at the other men, who took Shampoo and Ukyo's arms and began hurrying them back towards the front gate.  
  
Before she would have thought possible, Akane found herself on a small footbridge overlooking a pond in the sprawling Kuno yard. The bearded security fellow patted her shoulder, and moved off to one end of the bridge, his head moving back and forth as he scanned the landscape for threats. He tensed visibly when a figure in black kimono came out of the house, before relaxing when it became apparent that the master of the house was coming.  
  
"Akane Tendo! It is true that our love has been growing despite the formidable obstacles placed in our paths. But now the ultimate barrier has been placed, where the noble family imperative impels us to remian separate forever, separated by two oceans. I could not think how to tell you this, but Divine Providence has ensured that you would be here for what words I could summon. Fare thee well in life, Akane Tendo. Perhaps we shall meet again, with the dictates of our fmaily business, but not for some time; it will be too painful." Kuno abruptly hugged Akane... but for once, there was no not a single hint of perversion. "Cousin."  
  
"What are you talking, Kuno? Two oceans?" Akane sputtered, taken aback.  
  
"Ah, you could not know." Kuno gazed at her fondly, like he would a favored pet. "My noble father, finally recognizing my noble heart and keen mind, has decreed I shall run Kuno Industries of America. Tonight I leave to begin controlling the serpentine coils of the corporate beast." He paused, staring in the distance while wiping a tear off his cheek. "But here, in remembrance." He pushed something into Akane's hands, and began moving smoothly away. "I... I'll never forget you, Akane." He was gone.  
  
Akane could only stare, open-mouthed. Obviously something had happened, but she really didn't understand this new Kuno.  
  
She stood there for several moments, before the bearded fellow came back. His presence snapped Akane back to herself, annoyed that she hadn't gotten to ask Kuno if he had seen Ranma, or at least asked to stay at the party.  
  
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!?" Akane yelped as the man casually siezed her arm by the elbow, his blunt fingers digging into the ulnar nerve. The pain caused her to drop what Kuno had given her; she could see in the bottom of her vision yellow petals drifting away.  
  
"I didn't even get a chance to say anything! Do you think I'm just going to go away without actually talking to Kuno? Let _go_ of me!" The man had begun moving her towards the estate boundaries.  
  
"Let me think... yes, I think that is exactly what I expect." The man smirked. "You can send him a postcard tomorrow, to his new residence I'm sure somebody can give you the address... *oof*!" The sentence was punctuated by a sharply indrawn breath, as Akane's other elbow found its mark.  
  
"I don't think so. I'm going in there, now, and you'd better not try to stop me!"  
  
The bearded man's posture shifted slightly, its silent subtlety loudly proclaiming his martial prowess. "Is that so, Miss?" His hand went down to his belt, pressing a button that briefly glowed red. "I'm sorry to break this to you, but you're now officially uninvited with prejudice from this little soiree." Now his hand snapped up, trailing a whip that the belt had somehow become, striking towards Akane in one lightning lash...  
  
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Ukyo and Shampoo stared as Akane was taken off to meet with Kuno. "That Akane had better find out what's going on with Ranma," Ukyo muttered to Shampoo, only to receive a grim nod. They were now up against the front gate -- barely inside the grounds, as a bare concession to politeness while they waited for Akane's return. They were off to the side, however, where the incoming limos would not see any common folk that might disrupt their festive mood.  
  
Once they were positioned, the two guardsmen were content to talk between themselves. Gossip about the latest gameshow -- something where local contestants would race against each other through an obstacle course for small prizes -- was interrupted periodically by beeps from devices on the men's belts. Some sort of communicator was evidentally hooked in there, sending them periodic messages from the other guardsmen. The men were nice enough to tell the girls that Akane and Kuno had begun speaking, but otherwise maintained their distance.  
  
Of course, that distance may have been encouraged by the two girls' body language. Shampoo leant against a tree, saying nothing while seeing everything. Occasionally a hand would leave her bow or sword hilt to briefly stroke the golden compass slung around her neck as a necklace. Ukyo paced before Shampoo, her eyes focused on nothing and her mind evidently elsewhere. Occasionally she would say something under breath, a murmured "10 years!" or "Ranma-honey!"  
  
Finally, with a great deal of tension evident, Ukyo stopped. "Argh. I wish Akane had kept her mouth shut; now I have a really bad feeling about this. What's taking her so long?" The last suggested a shriek of aggravation, but Ukyo remarkably kept her tone low.  
  
Shampoo cattily remarked, "Maybe she have to make kiss-kiss with Kuno." Obviously her temper had not been improved by the wait.  
  
One of the men looked over at that. "Oh, I don't know about that, Miss, not today." The other elbowed him sharply, and the first man blushed. "Uhm, never mind. Hey, that hurt, Yoshi" Looking a bit guilty at having broken in, the man reached into his front pocket and pulled out a packet of gum. "Would you like something to chew on while you wait?"  
  
As Ukyo was reaching out, eager to have something else to occupy her mind, the security guards's belts began to beep. They took one look at the message screen, and their faces blanched simultaneously.  
  
"Uh-oh. You'll have to come back another time, girls," Yoshi began to say, as the other man began to turn towards the grounds. "Something's come up. Don't worry about your friend; we'll send her along shortly." The other guard had already turned and was beginning to jog up the driveway in the direction Akane had gone.  
  
The two girls caught each others eyes, and silently exploded into action. Shampoo leapt up without ever taking a step, flipping over Yoshi's head and landing on one knee behind him. She swung the tip of her scabbarded sword behind her, so that it slid into a small groove near the small of his back, in a precise strike to disrupt the man's energy flows. His legs froze, and his arms began churning in a frantic windmill as he fell backwards.  
  
"My legs! I can't move my legs!" Every trace of geniality in his voice was gone, replaced by blind panic. He hit the ground heavily, where Shampoo had been only a second before, to see her standing over him.  
  
"No worries. It not permanent!" Shampoo wrinkled her nose in amusement. "Here, have something to chew on while you wait." She reached down to the forgotten packet of gum, took out a piece, and stuffed it in his mouth. "Bai-bai, now!"  
  
Shampoo left his field of vision before he could manage to drag himself to a sitting position with his arms. When he did manage to do so, he saw no sign of her -- just as, after he finally thought of it, there was no sign of the communicator that had been clipped to his belt. He began the process of dragging his body towards the fence and driveway, in the hopes of flagging somebody down, chewing his gum all the while.  
  
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Ukyo had missed the entire byplay. As Shampoo attacked her guard, Ukyo slid around him, and took to the air in tremendous bound. She lifted her right hand up to her left ear, and then shot it sweeping forward, releasing a row of throwing spatulas at her opponent.  
  
It was done so silently that he hadn't even noticed her approach until a spatula parted his hair and singed his nose with its passage. He turned, hands instinctively coming up to his face to block his vulnerable face. Unfortunately he failed to move fast enough, as Ukyo descended like an angel from on high with a flaming battle spatula, twisting the blade so that it slipped between his still-bewildered hands and impacting the side of his head.  
  
There was a soft pop, and he went down, unconscious. Ukyo wasted no time in removing his belt and tying his hands together, but she had just barely finished when Shampoo came up behind her.  
  
"All right, Honey, let's go on in and meet the guests!" Ukyo said, baring her teeth in what was almost a smile.  
  
Shampoo's own teeth gleamed. "Yes." They faded into the trees lining the drive, and began picking their way closer to the gathering. The shadows stayed close, shielding them from prying eyes, as they picked their among the tree branches. As they came to the final tree, Ukyo held up a hand, wordlessly indicating to Shampoo that they should stop.  
  
At some point in their journey they had separated onto opposite sides of the roads. They slowly crept to the edge of their respective branches, kneeling silently over those guests still taking in the hors d'oevres and the beautiful sunset coating the lavish estate a brilliant red.  
  
Carefully looking around, Ukyo noticed several men, in somewhat plainer suits than the other guests, looking intently around the crowd. They had small, discreet buds in their ears; their ready stance and regular patrol through the crowd put the lie to any belief that they were just guests.  
  
Shampoo raised a hand, not daring to wave it lest it attract the attention of those below. When she was sure that Ukyo had focused on her hand, she slowly extended it, pointing at a balcony upstairs. Tall french windows looked out upon it, a slight sway in the left one making apparent it was unlatched.  
  
Ukyo tensed, flexed her muscles, and leapt, barely landing in the balcony 20 feet away. The only noise she made was a soft grunt as her knees bent beneath her, absorbing the impact. Reaching out to grasp the window and softly draw it open, she suddenly froze, when she noticed, in the darkened other end of the hallway, two figures, apparently looking at some of the portraits that lined the walls.  
  
She froze, causing Shampoo back in the trees to freeze also. The Amazon irritatedly tried to see what had caused Ukyo to stop, but could see nothing. She was able only to stay in the trees, silently cursing the okinomiyaki chef as Ukyo silently listened, a gargoyle above the festivities below.  
  
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Akane snapped her right hand down, catching the belt between her thumb and forefinger and yanking it forward, while twisting her body and reaching for the man with her left hand. She managed to grasp his jacket lapel before he could twist away, clenching her fingers tightly and yanking desperately on the cloth. Seeing he was caught, the man stopped trying to twist away, and actually threw his weight in the direction Akane was pulling him. He sank towards the floor, throwing his hands out at the last minute to cartwheel away, the momentum pulling both belt and suit out of Akane's grip.  
  
Akane was still somewhat surprised by the suddenness with what the scene had shifted to violence, but she was confident as she turned and awaited her opponent's move. He was evidently skilled... but not in Akane's league. She was sure of that. Well, pretty sure.  
  
His hands stabbed forward, the belt a snapping lash invisible to the eye. Akane fell back, turning her body to present a smaller profile. The end of the belt bounced off her forearms, as Akane continued to back peddle, looking for an opening. A small barb at the end tore a chunk out of Akane's flesh, leaving an bloody trail in the air as it swung back to the man.  
  
Akane gasped. Deciding that the belt simply gave the man too much range to try to dodge, she abruptly reversed course and charged. Still several feet from him, Akane threw herself into the air, a human missile. She reached one arm out to grab the belt, and the other to take the impact. The end of the belt-whip sliced into her one more time, but then she had a hold of it, and her full weight was pressing on him in the next instant.  
  
The man fell back, allowing Akane to execute a one-handed handspring off his chest to spring clear, taking the belt whip with her. She could feel the man's shoulder leave his socket as he tried to hold on, before he whimpered and his hand relaxed. As she landed facing away from him, she contemptously threw the whip as hard as she could into the trees. Turning, she began to approach him, noting that he had barely managed to get to his knees. His eyes looked somewhat glassy, and his lips were already bluish. Shock was evidently starting to set in.  
  
"Now, I'll just go in and talk to Kuno, and I'll get him to send you some medical attention. " Akane began walking away, feeling some contempt of the man behind her. Maybe she had gotten a lucky blow in, but he hadn't put up much of a fight.  
  
But before she took two steps, she felt muscular arms wrapping around her torso, and beginning to compress. Time began to slow. She could feel his facial hair sliding across the soft skin of her neck. His lips moved behind her, further irritating the skin. "Impressed by the secret attack of my school? The 'Shock & Awe' hug is almost unbeatable."  
  
The arms began compressing, squeezing all air out of Akane's lungs. Akane desperately flailed for purchase. But she could find none; butting her head backwards hit only air. Her arms strained, but she couldn't break the band of pain across her chest. Even the dislocated arm seemed oblivious to her efforts. She thought she might have heard his breathing quicken a little, but that might have been her own breathing. She couldn't breathe, she felt her strength fading, and then she was being picked up and dragged to the bridge.  
  
"Here, why don't you entertain Mr. Turtle for a while? I'm sure the police won't investigate a trespasser who stumbled into the pond too much... Bitch!" The last was hissed, the most emotion the man had shown the entire fight. Akane found herself falling, entering the water, before she knew it.  
  
The familiar rage and fear Akane encountered whenever she was in the water joined the feeling of helplessness and despair that losing the fight had engendered. And then... the man's words sank in. 'Mr. Turtle? Isn't that Kodachi's...' Akane began splashing furiously, trying to get herself to solid footing. 'This can't be that deep, can it? Where's the bottom! Aaaggh!'  
  
She was deeply afraid that she heard a splash in the water, over her own splashing. Was that sun flashing off scales over there? Or was that a snout brushing against her leg? These questions at least kept her from thinking so much about the fact she was drowning. But when she actually felt herself being pushed down by the mammoth reptilian claws, that was small consolation.  
  
Desperately lunging, she somehow managed to briefly lift herself to the top of the water, and grasp the alligator around the neck -- Kodachi Kuno's infamous pet, "Mr. Turtle". It immediately began thrashing, hoping to dislodge her and resume its task of eating. Akane grimly hung on, knowing it was her only chance of getting out of this alive.  
  
Thus she was all the more shocked when the creature's wild motions caused it to come underneath the bridge, and she found herself being bashed against the unyielding stone. She saw stars, and she let go, her muscles unconsciously relaxing. The creature paddled away briefly, clearing its pea-sized brain before returning to devour the surprisingly stubborn prey. Akane sank deeper in the water.  
  
"That Akane... what a klutz. Come on, Ukyo, let's go get married. I'm glad you're the one who found me; I was off doing some incredibly romantic thing for the last two months. Glad a real woman found me. " Was that Ranma? That lunkhead! That idiot! That insensitive clod! Akane came back alive, with a start. But as she did, the heavy emotions surrounding her dragged her faster into the depths.  
  
That was the last straw. Mr. Turtle was diving straight for her, when Akane, in instinctive genius, embraced her emotions. The hatred, the anger, the depression... she suddenly rocketed to the bottom, her shoes finding purchase in the soft muck, an aura of red surrounding her. Mr. Turtle managed to look quite surprised, but dove himself, jaws opening wide to decapitate Akane. Mr. Turtle was directly above Akane, when he felt himself being lifted up by some strange force, lifted up, up, up, out of the water, before tipping to the side and beginning to fall. Had he been less stunned, he might have paid attention as the energy sank back down, and exploded at the bottom of the pond, emptying it as water was flung across the landscape. In the middle of what had been the water, Akane stood, dazed.  
  
'What just happened?' Akane wondered? One minute she was drowning, and the next the water was gone and she was hurting. She felt like something had bruised every square inch of her skin. She limped out, almost slipping several times in the mud, leaving a wide berth from the still-unmoving alligator.  
  
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Nabiki frowned. Kuno's talk with her had been low-voiced enough that the guests didn't exactly know what was said; but that she had a big in with the man had been made obvious. This certainly was helping her meet and speak with the powers that were at the party, but complicated her task of building her own future. Her latest conversation target had slipped away, as a distinguished looking man in coat and tie had crept in and begun talking to her  
  
"So we would like to create a program in child psychology, to help children and parents come closer. We feel that there are a lot of families in Japan that encounter stress and simply don't know how to deal with it. If you could only talk to Master Kuno, I'm sure he'd be willing to help sponsor such a beneficial program..."  
  
"Why, I suppose I could, Mr. Sohma. But, really, what's in it for me?" Nabiki pressed the wineglass against her lips, hiding her smirk. She was spinning him like a wheel.  
  
He blinked, flustered. "Well, I suppose, you'd get the satisfaction of helping Japan's families. Think of the children, Miss Tendo; wouldn't it be better times if every child had loving parents who knew how to take care of them?" His earnestness almost repelled Nabiki, so she started walking, maintaining her distance. "And, of course, we'd expect Mr. Kuno to maintain some oversight, so I'm sure we could arrange you to have intern in a consulting position, to come inspect the program."  
  
Nabiki paused.  
  
"When you're not at school, of course! We have very good relations with Nekomi Tech, I'm sure that we could arrange a healthy scholarship for someone of your standing!"  
  
Nabiki smiled.  
  
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Sohma. I'll speak with Mr. Kuno at my next opportunity. You can send me the details at my address here." Nabiki handed over a small business card, containing her name and the dojo's address. "A small word to the wise: I am deciding where I'm attending college very shortly. I'd hate for this opportunity to pass me by, capisce?"  
  
Nabiki turned away, as the man nodded, wide-eyed.  
  
'All right, Nabs, you've got it. A few more opportunities like this, and it really /will/ be a hard decision,' Nabiki exulted. She looked around for her original target, but did not see him. Instead she began climbing up the grand staircase, letting her hand trail along the wooden banister. She felt the grains pass beneath her hands, a ridge trailing behind her, extending in front of her, and then veering away as she reached the top. She closed her eyes, feeling an odd sense that her life was about to change that night and never again be the same comfortable existence that she lived prior to this moment.  
  
She looked at the hall, noting the elegant paintings lining the walls on her left and right. A clean white linen cloth covered the painting at the top of the stairs, presumably a new work not completely installed. She was just starting to peek beneath the linens when she heard a voice behind her.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo. Your presence here is remarkable, really." The cool tones of Kodachi Kuno behind her quickly brought Nabiki down to Earth. "My brother has been more impressed than ever with you these last few months." Nabiki turned to see the younger Kuno girl, dressed elaborately in a designer blue gown, sheer silk at the base giving way to a delicate black lace floral pattern at the top. It was a dress that would not have been out of place at the American Oscars. "But then, you always have been very good at profiting from opportunities. "  
  
Nabiki turned away. "Yes, I am good at that, aren't I?" She embraced Kodachi's sneer, made it her own. "You've certainly taken advantage enough of my services. Over your little Ranma obsession?"  
  
Kodachi's voice rose in a shriek. "Never! He and I are a destined match! From the moment I laid eyes upon him, I knew he and I..." Nabiki started calculating the odds that Kodachi would be ripping off her gown to reveal a leotard cunningly concealed, but then Kodachi stopped. "But no... now that my brother is taking the reins of power, we shall together search the world for darling Ranma. Your petty services will _not_ be required."  
  
"Taking... the reins?" Nabiki asked, trying to figure out what was going on.  
  
The Kuno girl looked curious. "He did not tell you?" And now Kodachi's infamous laughter did begin, a strident echo of madness floating in the aira above the heads of the powerful below. "My father has stepped down, and persuaded the board to acknowledge the truth. My brother now heads Kuno Industries. Today, he has become a man."  
  
Patterns began falling into place, as Nabiki recognized why the kowtowing had been so pervasive tonight. She took a few breaths. 'What does this mean? What should I do?' Her carefully laid plans were now completely asunder, as she pondered what would be the best course for her to take. She felt as if there were dice spinning in her head. It was almost not a surprise, then, when she heard the crash of breaking glass and the screams beginning. Somewhat surprising, however, was Kodachi's drawing her towards one of the upstairs rooms, urging her to take cover. Maybe Kuno had been right when he said the family owed her a debt.  
  
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Ukyo had had enough. She raised her spatula, and silently flipped open the French window. But she had not even entered the house when she heard, behind her, the sound of an enraged Amazon, breaking glass, and shrieks of pain. When she turned, she could saw what had happened. Or rather, she couldn't see any trace of Shampoo other than the bow, abandoned in the tree, so her mind filled in the details.  
  
She jumped down below, finding Shampoo had reached inside the shattered remnants of a large window, and was holding one flustered Tatewaki Kuno by the lapels of his kimono off of the ground. The security guards were running closer, and Ukyo felt herself pressing closer to Shampoo, her muscles tensing for confrontation.  
  
She could hear Kuno's teeth chatter as Shampoo shook him. "Where Ranma?" Shampoo demanded. "We know he's here. Where is he?" Shampoo let Kuno drop, as he landed with a thump amidst the glass shards.  
  
Ukyo took a closer look at Kuno's face when he landed. It was red... 'Has he been drinking?' she wondered. Then Kuno opened his mouth, and removed the need to wonder.  
  
"What are you doing, woman!? This is a private engagement! I know nothing of that cur, Ranma; now leave!"  
  
The security guards had just reached Shampoo, so Ukyo moved to block them. The guards, while obviously trained, did not appear to be expecting much resistance from the two girls, so fell back when Ukyo met their grasping hands with the clang of cold steel. "Then we search!" Ukyo heard Shampoo assert; it was sheer luck that she looked back at Kuno to see white appear in his alcohol-ruddied cheeks. She then was forced to look back at the guards, throwing several spatulas to keep them honest.  
  
"No! You'll disturb the guests! You can search tomorrow, when we fly to Hawaii... I'll have Sasuke show you around!" Kuno's voice had noticeable heightened in pitch.  
  
Shampoo's response was quite physical, as she jumped through the window into the room, landing in a roll on the thick persian carpet and drawing her sword. "No! We find Ranma now! Spatula-girl, come!" Shampoo didn't wait, but threw upon the door and began rapidly moving through the crowd. The people, drawn near the door by the sounds of excitement, wisely moved away from the lavender-haired woman with the very sharp-looking blade.  
  
From the crowd, however, came two small-gleaming prongs trailing thin silver wires. Shampoo whirled, and caught them with her free hand. This proved to be a mistake, when the electricity came. Shampoo's hand tensed, and then she dropped to the floor. The man who fired the taser had made it to her body and had begun moving her arms behind her back, shaking loose a pair of handcuffs. The handcuffs fell when a foot with all Ukyo's weight behind it landed on his face.  
  
The guard now laid out as warning to the others, Ukyo hoisted Shampoo's body across her shoulders and began running for higher ground. She was halfway up the stairs when a tingling at the back of her neck warned her to leap aside. She jumped onto the left bannister, springing back and forth from one side to another, hoping to gain some distance and avoid whatever it was she had sensed. Presumably by now the other security guards were taking measures against her. At least the upper stairs seemed to be deserted.  
  
She felt more than saw the metal shuriken passing her, and realized her time had run out. Hurling Shampoo in front of her, towards the top of the stairs, Ukyo then flung herself up, so she could use the railing as thin cover to launch a counter attack. The girls' positions on the floor served them well, as the sharp metal shuriken from below angled overhead. Ukyo regained her feet and jumped from the second floor, concentrating as she fell on her aim. She felt the smooth tension in her arm as she released one, then a second sharp spatula, hitting the evident shuriken-thrower in the arm. A small spurt of blood made evident that he would be favoring that arm for a while.  
  
As Ukyo landed, however, she was given no chance to relax. She found her arm caught in something -- a ribbon? From above? She grimaced, focused her strength, and tugged downwards. She met no resistance, but instead saw a familiar figure jumping towards the chandelier in the middle of the room.  
  
"HO HO HO! It is the serveant girl, come to disrupt the festivities! Excellent --- none shall accuse the Kunos of neglecting the party's entertainment!" Kodachi threw a ball at Ukyo, who promptly returned it with a swing of her giant spatula... the contest was on. Ukyo grinned with relish... she was going to recover Ranma or die trying.  
  
But busy fighting Kodachi as she was, Ukyo was in no position to deal with the security guards in the crowd, as much as she might want to. She could only hope Shampoo would recover before the men stopped being distracted by her battle with Kodachi amidst the room's rafters and chandeliers.  
  
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Nabiki gasped. She had just crept out of the bedroom Kodachi had pressed her in, seeing a scene straight out of a war film. Shampoo and Ukyo were engaging in aerial combat with several men, their battle cries filling the entire room. Below, she could see guests pressed against the wall, unwilling to get in the way of the combatants. A few of the more powerful-looking men were speaking on the cell phones, attempting to ignore what was going on; but most were focused on the display. Ukyo was throwing bags of flour left and right, which promptly would explode in people's faces.  
  
All seemed to be going well for Shampoo and Ukyo -- they were slowly whittling down the numbers of opponents willing or able to stand against them. A few of the braver guests were hauling off unconscious guardsmen to the punch tables. But then the guardsmen pulled back, revealing someone evidently much more a menace. A giant sumo wrestler appeared from within the depths of the house, his every step shaking the men nearby to their toes. Ukyo and Shampoo lit upon the upper railings, and looked briefly at each other. They simultaneously leapt at the man, extending their outermost legs in an attempt to bring him down rapidly. However, the man swung one massive, gargantuan arm, and managed to knock Ukyo into Shampoo, and into a wall.  
  
Nabiki froze. She was furious that Shampoo and Ukyo had crashed her party, her very important party, but she didn't want to stand by and let them get hurt. The man looked ferocious, angry, and just a little bit hungry. She began looking around for something to throw as a distraction, and then her blood curdled.  
  
Sometime in the fight, the white cloth covering the painting at the top of the stairs had come off. At the top, posing stiffly, was a wedding portrait, beautifully done in oil on canvas. There was Tatewaki Kuno, standing stiff in a beautiful black tuxedo... with a red-haired, glazed looking bride by his side. Nabiki saw this, and screamed.  
  
Beneath her, everybody turned and looked up. The sight of the magnificent painting caused a mass intake of breath. Even had Nabiki not recognized the two, she too would have been caught up in the paralysis. The painting was awe-inspiring, with life-size characters and Kuno's gaze a commanding look at each and every member of the audience. The artist, whoever he was, had clearly outdone himself.  
  
But then a loud boom announced the arrival of a very interested newcomer.  
  
"WHAT?" Akane was here. Nabiki couldn't bear to turn away to see her sister. Instead, Nabiki's knees began shaking, quietly. She heard the crack of wood breaking, and soft fragile bones hitting the walls. Akane was coming.  
  
Nabiki closed her eyes, but opened them when she felt a mass arc over her, disturbing the light. She saw the sumo wrestler flying through the air at tremendous speed, to crash into the painting, wrecking it. But then she saw something which almost made her scream again. Behind the painting, in a small room, she saw Sasuke, looking wide-eyed up from the bowl of soup in his hands. She couldn't see the person whom Sasuke had been feeding from the bowl, but then she really didn't have to. The brilliant white wedding dress, restraints around the room, a stoppered bottle of something, the bruises on Sasuke's face, all made it fairly clear who it was, and Nabiki knew fear, and shame, and pain.  
  
- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =  
  
Well, there we go. This has probably been the most technically complex chapter I've ever written (counting the viewpoint shifts, the number of characters, the dream symbology, and the fight sequences); I'm not completely  
  
happy with it, but here ya go. I'd like to give a big thanks to bio-nic and piemur for pre-reading this; I'd be interested in other pre-readers. (I believe a few of you offered after the first chapter; but I can't find those emails. I'm very sorry about that :-( ). I, of course, welcome any and all C&C, either on- or off-list. In particular, I'd like to hear opinions about whether the fight sequences worked. They were probably the single slowest part to write, so any feedback would be useful.  
  
Thanks a lot to everyone who's commented on previous chapters; you've really helped me solidify the story. Thanks in advance to any comments on this chapter. 


	4. Chapter 4

- Chapter 4 -  
"Seal the area! Don't let anybody enter. We're gonna take this bitch down!" The radio burst out staccato commands. Then a wet sound came through, as if something fluid-filled had popped. The men on call grimaced. Professional security, they had well-defined procedure that they were trained rigorously on. So with only a sick grimace, they began taking action: Secure the perimeter. Make sure the authorities weren't alerted. Try to get the young master and mistress out of danger. Hopefully it wasn't just another dispute between the two of them. If it was, maybe they'd get another bonus to "forget" about it.  
And if not, they could bring in the big guns. Anything the formidable corps already at the night's party hadn't already subdued was fair game for termination, legalities be damned. It was just another day in the life of a Kuno family security guard. 

Genma padded through the town, the soft pads of his hefty frame in counterpoint to the beat of the streets around him. Beside him Soun trotted along, softly wheezing as he tried to keep up with the deceptively slow appearing panda. Genma grunted softly at Soun, but slowed his pace.  
At that, Soun eased up, looking a bit less ridiculous only walking instead of trotting. The traditional Samurai clothing he wore went well with the traditional Samurai spear firmly grasped in his left hand, but his face was painted a bright white with a fuzzy red ball firmly entrenched atop his nose.  
The people heading homewards from central Tokyo glanced curiously over the warrior clown and his performing panda (as the placards strapped to Genma's sides proudly proclaimed), but showed no signs of worry at the visible weapons. Instead, they admired the realistic-looking props, no few of them feeling a tinge of jealousy at the flair the edges gave the two. They might look ridiculous, but they looked ridiculous with style.  
The crowds steadily diminished and the surroundings grew more lavish. Genma heard distant chimes indicating the hour mark, and felt rather proud of himself. He and Soun had made good time getting here,  
and now with just a little bit of luck, they could meet up with Akane and the other girls, and avoid any trouble. They were prepared for trouble, of course; that's why Soun had brought his weapons. He had two daughters in there, and he was taking no chances; whatever it was that they thought they had found, he would be prepared.  
And it looked like some caution was going to have been a great idea. As they came to the street which Akane had mentioned, Genma drew to a halt. He raised one mammoth paw to check Soun's progress. Some distance ahead of them, they could see the largest estate they'd come across yet. An ornate wrought-iron fence wound around a heavily treed yard; before the fence, black vans were parked. Even more ominously, a large number of black-suited men were getting out of the vans,  
animatedly talking into headsets, taking meaningful looks into the estate.  
Soun was visibly deterred. "Genma...," he began, uncertain. But while Soun may have felt uneasy at getting into such a situation, his partner had no such problems. Instead, Genma drew himself erect. He whuffed an indignant, self-congratulatory snort at Soun's timidity and his own foresight. The meaning was clear: Genma was saying to trust him. Hadn't Genma always gotten them through the rough times? Wasn't Genma responsible for planning their glorious future?  
Genma's fur began to blur, darkening into a slightly wavering,  
slightly larger-than-life image of himself. Soun felt his worry suddenly being pushed aside -- instead, he felt a great sense of trust welling up from deep within himself. Filled with a new found sense of purpose, he began walking towards the guards. When the leader of the men noticed the armor-clad figure and panda coming toward him, his hands went immediately to the holster of his stun gun But he was soon captivated by Soun's arguments, unable to distrust a man who could speak so persuasively, or at least had such a trustworthy animal.  
"Well, we're clowns, you see, and we were sent for to help calm down the children. It's important that the younger folk be calm, with the gas explosions and all. So let us just get on our way, and we'll be out of your hair"  
"Gas explosions? " The man was suspicious. "That's not what I heard. We wouldn't have been called if it was something that simple"  
"Well, maybe it was something else. Some drunken guests or something. But whatever it was, we -- " Soun waved his hand vaguely towards the panda " -- got called to calm everybody down." Soun frowned unhappily. "I was just getting to spend time with my kid, and my boss has to call us in to save his butt. Think we're gonna get a bonus? Nooo... nobody cares about the clowns"  
The whining obviously annoyed the man. "Go in, then. Talk to your boss -- he gets paid to care. Just if something goes down, get out of the way." The man's eyes hinted maybe he wouldn't care so much if a well-meaning but annoying clown didn't get out of the way.  
Soun and Genma went on their way, clowns entering the gates of hell.  
-  
Nabiki could only stare at what the hurled wrestler had revealed, the hole in the wall exposing a harsh reality behind the facade of sophisticated civilization. Or that's how it seemed -- she had been losing herself in the party's flow, and now this. The ninja Sasuke,  
one arm in a sling, was clearly startled at being exposed, and jumped to his feet. The bowl of soup he had been feeding the bridal figure clattered to the floor, liquid slopping over the side.  
The figure in white didn't stir. She might have been dead; except that the lacy white wedding dress showed signs of breathing.  
Nabiki's entire grasp on reality was weakening; first her sister had crashed her coming-out party (for somehow Nabiki had transferred an almost romantic notions to the very practical business introduction of earlier), and now this. She took one step further on the landing and saw the red hair spilling from behind the headpiece and onto the pillow.  
Lacking any sort of conscious will to direct it, the fine gears of Nabiki's minds slipped by habit into usual routines. How this would impact the odds of martial battle that daily beset Nerima. Where the astute gambling consortium would position themselves to profit thereby. The profit wedged in the gears, halting their progress even as pressure built up in the machinery.  
Nabiki stepped to the side reflexively, as a soldier's head appeared in the floor where she had been standing. Apparently someone beneath had decide the soldier should look into opportunities as a stalactite. Briefly, Nabiki's mind slipped into considering whom she knew the someone was; but she allowed the numbness to reclaim her,  
and the image was gone.  
But where her thoughts could ignore anybody whom the tides of battle had shifted from view, her sight was forced to pay attention to that within its domain. She saw a dark-clad girl in a boy's uniform forcing her way, one labored step at a time, to the foot of the stairs. The girl's name flashed briefly in Nabiki's mind... and then vanished. The girl's leg had been injured somewhere. But she had made it to the railing. Nabiki idly thought it'd be a good thing if she stopped trying ; she was almost certainly hurting herself. A figure dashed past Nabiki towards the stairs. "Stay away from Mistress Kuno, you ... cook!" When that name flickered across Nabiki's ears, she instinctively flicked her eyes upwards. A ribbon leashed down from the rafters above. But the girl was prepared, slicing it with her baker's peel. A small remnant of ribbon fluttered to the floor.  
Before any further action could be taken, the person who had gone underneath the stairs re-emerged into the center of the room. She was surrounded by a blinding light that masked her identity completely. The light pulsated to the frequency of a low guttural noise.  
Was that noise coming from the person's throat? It hardly seemed possible; it barely sounded human. It was getting louder though; the blinding aura was washing over Nabiki. Nabiki had to close her eyes to it, but it was obvious the others in the room were being affected as well. The screams that she heard seemed too much for simple physical pain; the emotional waves were disconcerting.  
But she opened her eyes when she sensed motion behind her, where Sasuke had been feeding Ranma soup. She felt freer as she looked away from the swirling centrum of dark emotions, but then she saw the small ninja messing with the wheels at the foot of the gurney where Ranma lay so still. In her frozen silence, Nabiki stood silent -- except her mouth was moving? "Hey! Stop that"  
Sasuke looked away from the sumo wrestler, startled. The alto tones close by seemed much more relevant than the high-pitched screams of agony from the floor beneath. And somewhat more worrisome, in the long term; Nabiki wasn't one of the martial artists in Nerima, and Sasuke was well aware that many ordinary people would not understand how passion could have led to this situation. He hurriedly yanked one last time at the wheel lock -- it's stuck! -- and began moving the bed. 'She must be saved -- for the sake of the family'  
Nabiki wasn't getting out his way, sadly. Sasuke had time for a quick toss of his ninja smoke pellets, but they bounced too far. Nabiki's eyes teared, but she could still see the shape of the bed as Sasuke tried to roll it by. "No you don't, you little twerp..." Nabiki blindly threw herself at the shapes. She hit the bed, but her outstretched right index finger managed to plunge into something. A mouth?  
Before she could take advantage of the position, she felt teeth savagely tearing into her finger. Sasuke apparently felt his task was more important than discourse. Nabiki howled and shoved the bed against the ninja. It was one of the few weapons she could see clearly enough. Given its heavy cast-iron frame, it seemed surprisingly light,  
even given Nabiki's adrenaline fueled strength: she had to look twice to make sure that Ranma's body was still there. Its lightweight metal frame provided little resistance as she smashed it into Sasuke's body, hurling him across the room.  
The awkward ninja turned it into a somersault of sorts, to end up sprawled against the wall. Through labored breath, he wheezed, "Master Kuno is interested in hiring you to make this all go away." He was lying, of course, but he was sure that if by some miracle the mercenary Tendo could rescue this unpleasant scene, his master would pay half his inheritance. Hearing the noise from outside, Sasuke swallowed. Make that half his inheritance, and all of his sister's.  
But the way Nabiki looked at him, her answer was clear.  
Nabiki didn't bother responding further. Blinking her eyes furiously, she made her way over to the bed, looking for the buckles she had seen holding Ranma in. "Come on, let's get you out of here"  
So caught up was she in this job that she didn't notice the ninja's revival, or his surreptitious motion, barely slowed by the arm sling.  
-  
As Genma and Soun strolled into the banquet room, their careful pose of nonchalance was hard-pressed. Things were not well, not well at all. And had Genma not shoved hard against his friend when a piece of wood came flying through the air, it wouldn't have gone well for the pair either.  
"Saotome, old friend, this is it, the end..." Soun's calm was shattered, his emotions again engaged full-throttle at the sight of a thick oak table leg flying past throat-high and shattering against a iron grating that discreetly lined the decorative french windows. But even as the tears began falling, he was looking, looking to see the root cause for the violence in the room. The pulsating aura made it difficult enough even to see that it was human, rather than a shadowy glowing figure. But the way it held itself pricked at Soun familiarly.  
"Akane? Is that " -- he blinked away the tears -- " is that you? What are you doing?" He moved towards her, trying to collect his thoughts. "Calm down, these men aren't fighting anymore." And they weren't; the few men still able were taking advantage of Soun's distraction to leave, presumably to summon the reinforcements waiting outside the estate. "Daddy's here. Come on over here, and I'll take care of everything." It was clear that Akane hadn't waited, and was now fighting with pure emotion. Her stance was not the skilled martial stance of a traditional martial artist; it had evolved into the emotion-based chi-projecting stance of a master of the Musabetsu Kakutou School of martial arts. And so Soun was very careful approaching her.  
The men may not have been fighting anymore, but a gymnast's ribbon snaked down from above. It grabbed one of the men, and hoisted him into the air, sending him arcing across the room to crash into somebody who had just landed on the second floor railing, at the edge of the room. "Is that that Ukyo girl?" Soun asked Genma, but received no answer. The two collided figures fell onto the floor.  
Instead, the furry panda held up a well-worn sign, "Don't look at me,  
I'm just a cute panda." But then a big toothy smile flashed and the sign twisted around. "I'll go check it out. Take care of your daughter." In a flash, the confident ursine twisted away in a flashy show of agility. The Akane figure growled at him, but with one quick jump he was on top of her head, and another jump later he was on the stairs. The aura alone proved no match for his skill.  
His daughter's anger-fueled aura briefly dimmed, as if she was distracted by something more than just her chin slamming into the ground. But before Soun could reach her, or even yell at his old friend, a rubber ball was tossed from above, knocking Akane's rising head back to the floor, bouncing from there to knock Soun down on his haunches, and then rolling to the center of the room, where it stopped.  
Then it blew up.  
The explosion hurled everybody in the room backwards, away from the blast. Genma's furry body was helped upwards, to impact with the ceiling. Smoke detectors were spurred into action, and soon a gentle rain from ceiling-mounted sprinklers was floating down. Nabiki felt the rattle and leaned towards the secret entrance of the room, trying to see what was going on out there. Fortuitously, this meant Sasuke misjudged the distance between them, and rather than snaking his hand around her throat, his lunge ended with his hand plunging into her exposed cleavage.  
"Sasuke, I didn't know you cared." Nabiki was surprised to find her voice saying this. "That'll be 1000 yen." That was surprisingly automatic... she hadn't even thought about the price. Although, now that she had a second, that seemed about the market price for embarrassing situations.... And then the less rational part of her brain finally awoke to the situation, and her extremely rational part concluded what Sasuke had been trying to do, and she panicked.  
She raked her foot down Sasuke's leg and stomped on his inner heel. As he opened his mouth to whine, she whirled and shoved him hard against the wall, making him stumble over the unconscious sumo wrestler. Holding the small man there with one hand, she yanked off his sling with the other. Without full control of his arm, it flopped down, and his face noticeably whitened. Grabbing that arm with both hands, Nabiki squeezed it hard, feeling the bones grind together, out of position. She felt rather than heard the snap of a fracture turning into a compound break. This made her job easier, as the ninja was frantic not to resist her any further; she tied his arms behind him with his own sling.  
Knowing she needed to get out of here, to think if nothing else,  
before anything else could go wrong, and definitely taking Ranma with her, she bent to unlocking the gurney's wheels. 'Maybe I can just wheel him out of here during the after-dinner speeches. Yeah, that's the ticket, I'm sure the ominous silence as I step here into the open is because a speech is about to begin...' As she began pushing it out the door, she still took time to kick Sasuke's arm savagely.  
But even with her heightened alertness, she wasn't prepared for the razor hoop slicing through the handle she was pushing the bed with. Nor the club that hit her head, or the club after that,  
or.... She slumped, barely aware of what was going on, barely aware that her weight pressing on the bed had started it moving, towards the stairs, no longer propping her up... wait, the stairs?  
Nabiki was dazed and out of it, but Soun, having just reached his youngest daughter, could see everything that was happening by her.  
His middle daughter slumped over, pushing the gurney away from her,  
towards the stairs; it came to the edge of one step, whoofed down,  
again, again, bouncing its passenger out to fall down the rest of the stairs. And then the bed landed on top of her. In the confusion,  
perhaps nobody but a skilled martial artist would have noticed the protruding curve of Ranma's belly as she went down the stairs, until she landed squarely on it... but of course the room was filled with high-powered martial artists.  
Ranma lay sprawled on the floor, a small figure beneath a large bed. Her legs were crumpled beneath her, a small amount of blood visible beneath her, only some of which had come from her nose slamming into the ground. A small lavender-haired girl -- Shampoo,  
Soun noted -- appeared to rouse herself from unconsciousness to stretch over and grasp ranma's hand.  
It was good that Soun had come to stand by Akane, as she fainted, a small sigh of air the only notice. Soun managed to catch her, even as the massive front doors were swung open, and black-suited assult troops began pouring in. Framed in the center was a young Tatewaki Kuno, holding a katana in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other,  
looking aghast. "For touching my bride, you shall all die"  
And he might have made good on that threat, had not behind him appeared the firemen summoned by the fire alarm, and their increasingly alarmed police escort, who promptly summoned the ambulances on seeing the disaster area.  
The ambulances were rather full, taking the combatants, Ranma, a gi-clad Genma found in a warm puddle of water, and also Soun -- for Soun, dear Soun, had himself fainted at Kuno's words. His blissful unconsciousness would undoubtedly prove the happiest memory of that day for a long while to come.  
- - - - - - - - -  
Thanks to Kitsune, Rakhal, and Figment for pre-reading this fic. I'm thankful to them, and to everybody who has written a review or sent me feedback on previous chapters. I'm still very interested in how people receive this fic; and although I do have an overall outline with my eventual goals that I intend to follow (if only slowly), I'd love to hear what people would like to see in the fic.


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